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Why are these digital service blocks seen as anything but tariffs by the US government? They cost American companies billions of dollars and help enrich Chinese

Why are these digital service blocks seen as anything but tariffs by the US government? They cost American companies billions of dollars and help enrich Chinese companies. Yes, maybe censoring is the purpose, but the financial effect is the same. I'm not opposed to foreign countries fighting against tech monopolization either, it makes sense from their perspective. I'm just wondering why the US government doesn't seem to see it as a hostile act and respond likewise. Do they just not understand the effect it has on American companies? That senator asking Zuckerberg how Facebook can offer a free service comes to mind...

cecja 8y ago
This comment is mindboggling stupid I can't even. Tariffs are artifical this is not, twitch is acting against a law standing for a long time they just did not enforce it. You really want to retaliate because a foreign company breaks the law of the host country? Yikes, mate.
Maakuth 8y ago
Responding likewise? You mean censoring stuff back? That seems like an awful thing to do, to verify for global audience that censorship is a legit tool of foreign politics.
- dhnsmakala 8y ago
  You could respond with tarrifs on physical goods. Tarrifs don't have to be on the same item, they could just aim for equivalent financial impact.
zavi 8y ago
Chinese treatment of US tech companies (forced technology transfer, IP theft, censorship) is the primary reason why US is imposing tariffs on China. One can see that from reading the primary sources (i.e. press releases on wh.gov).
- dhnsmakala 8y ago
  That's interesting, I was not aware of the US response to the IP theft I read about. Well, it's been a long time coming.
shanghaiaway 8y ago
America has no right to the markets of sovereign nations. Blocking Facebook etc is a matter of national security. Europe should do it too.
- yesenadam 8y ago
  America has no right to the markets of sovereign nations. That seems fairly 'self-evident'. I wonder how the US would respond to some country on the other side of the world insisting the US buy that country's product, and even saw it as a 'hostile act' if the US just didn't want to do so. That would just be bullying, plain and simple. And it would be ridiculous. You see that, right, GP?
- dhnsmakala 8y ago
  Of course, I agree. Every nation decides who has access to it's markets. China has denied access to a set of US companies in certain industries. It is then only fair that the US match this denial of access, which is what a tariff is.
rqs 8y ago
Cyber Security Law of the People's Republic of China[0] give it a read. On the surface, it's like GDPR or other similar data regulation, but focus on different purpose. The law basically gives the China government a legal foundation to block any service that does not comply with it, and most foreign service does not. If you DO completely obey the law however, then you can operate in China. Amazon.com for example, can be accessed directly in China. But the law was very restrict and tricky, for most companies (Twitch for example) it's not worth the trouble. (Maybe you don't know, China's game streaming service are heavily controlled: you could only stream few games that are selected by the platform. Streaming illegal game that is not approved by the authority (Battlefield for example) is not allowed and likely results a ban) BTW: Do we have any international treaty that can prevent political censorship? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Internet_Security_Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Internet_Security_Law
- dhnsmakala 8y ago
  Thanks for the info. Yes, I read about a Chinese gaming company that was affected by these restrictions, so it could be that censorship is the end game. It's hard to ignore that US companies have lost hundreds of billions of dollars because they cannot operate in China, though.
- muricafirst 8y ago
  But China goes around this, by harassing American tech companies which continue to operate in China. https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/05/01/chinese-police-raid-uber-office/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/05/01/chinese-police-raid-u... Even if American companies obey the law they will be blocked. Zuck has pleaded with China saying he will follow every censorship law there and still China won't unblock him. Visa and Mastercard too are blocked in China. What censorship law did they break?
wodenokoto 8y ago
You see this everywhere. Food safety regulations, tend to favor local food, and be stricter on foreign foods.
pjc50 8y ago
This is the mirror image of "why aren't environmental and safety standards considered tariffs?"

cecja 8y ago

This comment is mindboggling stupid I can't even. Tariffs are artifical this is not, twitch is acting against a law standing for a long time they just did not enforce it. You really want to retaliate because a foreign company breaks the law of the host country? Yikes, mate.

Maakuth 8y ago

Responding likewise? You mean censoring stuff back? That seems like an awful thing to do, to verify for global audience that censorship is a legit tool of foreign politics.

dhnsmakala 8y ago
You could respond with tarrifs on physical goods. Tarrifs don't have to be on the same item, they could just aim for equivalent financial impact.

zavi 8y ago

Chinese treatment of US tech companies (forced technology transfer, IP theft, censorship) is the primary reason why US is imposing tariffs on China. One can see that from reading the primary sources (i.e. press releases on wh.gov).

dhnsmakala 8y ago
That's interesting, I was not aware of the US response to the IP theft I read about. Well, it's been a long time coming.

shanghaiaway 8y ago

America has no right to the markets of sovereign nations. Blocking Facebook etc is a matter of national security. Europe should do it too.

yesenadam 8y ago
America has no right to the markets of sovereign nations. That seems fairly 'self-evident'. I wonder how the US would respond to some country on the other side of the world insisting the US buy that country's product, and even saw it as a 'hostile act' if the US just didn't want to do so. That would just be bullying, plain and simple. And it would be ridiculous. You see that, right, GP?
dhnsmakala 8y ago
Of course, I agree. Every nation decides who has access to it's markets. China has denied access to a set of US companies in certain industries. It is then only fair that the US match this denial of access, which is what a tariff is.

rqs 8y ago

Cyber Security Law of the People's Republic of China[0] give it a read. On the surface, it's like GDPR or other similar data regulation, but focus on different purpose. The law basically gives the China government a legal foundation to block any service that does not comply with it, and most foreign service does not. If you DO completely obey the law however, then you can operate in China. Amazon.com for example, can be accessed directly in China. But the law was very restrict and tricky, for most companies (Twitch for example) it's not worth the trouble. (Maybe you don't know, China's game streaming service are heavily controlled: you could only stream few games that are selected by the platform. Streaming illegal game that is not approved by the authority (Battlefield for example) is not allowed and likely results a ban) BTW: Do we have any international treaty that can prevent political censorship? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Internet_Security_Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Internet_Security_Law

dhnsmakala 8y ago
Thanks for the info. Yes, I read about a Chinese gaming company that was affected by these restrictions, so it could be that censorship is the end game. It's hard to ignore that US companies have lost hundreds of billions of dollars because they cannot operate in China, though.
muricafirst 8y ago
But China goes around this, by harassing American tech companies which continue to operate in China. https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/05/01/chinese-police-raid-uber-office/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/05/01/chinese-police-raid-u... Even if American companies obey the law they will be blocked. Zuck has pleaded with China saying he will follow every censorship law there and still China won't unblock him. Visa and Mastercard too are blocked in China. What censorship law did they break?

wodenokoto 8y ago

You see this everywhere. Food safety regulations, tend to favor local food, and be stricter on foreign foods.

pjc50 8y ago

This is the mirror image of "why aren't environmental and safety standards considered tariffs?"